The Rise of Islam

[HisDaughter]

Sharia courts operating in Britain

Prophecy News Watch
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Five sharia courts have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester and Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The government has quietly sanctioned that their rulings are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court. Previously, the rulings were not binding and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.

Lawyers have issued grave warnings about the dangers of a dual legal system and the disclosure drew criticism from Opposition leaders.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: "If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so."

Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, added: "I think it's appalling. I don't think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state."

Muslim tribunal courts started passing sharia judgments in August 2007. They have dealt with more than 100 cases that range from Muslim divorce and inheritance to nuisance neighbours.

It has also emerged that tribunal courts have settled six cases of domestic violence between married couples, working in tandem with the police investigations.

Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, said that sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals under a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996.

The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.

The disclosures come after Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, sparked a national debate and calls for his resignation for saying that the establishment of sharia in the future "seems unavoidable" in Britain.

In July, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice agreed that Muslims in Britain should be able to live according to Islamic law to decide financial and marital disputes.

Mr Siddiqi said he expected the courts to handle a greater number of "smaller" criminal cases in coming years as more Muslim clients approach them. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

"All we are doing is regulating community affairs in these cases," said Mr Siddiqi, chairman of the governing council of the tribunal.

There are concerns for women suffering under the Islamic laws, which favours men.

Mr Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons.

The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.

In the six cases of domestic violence, Mr Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment.

In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.

[HisDaughter]

Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official: OK to kill owners of 'immoral' TV networks 

Prophecy News Watch
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Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official has issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content.

The 79-year-old Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan said Thursday that satellite channels cause the "deviance of thousands of people."

Many of the most popular Arab satellite networks -- which include channels showing music videos often denounced as obscene by Muslim conservatives -- are owned by Saudi princes and well-connected Saudi businessmen. Al-Lihedan did not specify any particular channels.

Al-Lihedan is chief of the kingdom's highest tribunal, the Supreme Judiciary Council. Saudi Arabia's judiciary is made up of Islamic clerics whose decrees, or fatwas, on everyday issues are widely respected. Their fatwas do not have the weight of law. In the courts, cleric-judges rule according to Islamic law, but interpretations can vary.

Al-Lihedan was answering listeners' questions during the daily "Light in the Path" radio program in which he and others make rulings on what is permissible under Islamic law.

One caller asked about Islam's view of the owners of satellite TV channels that show "bad programs" during Ramadan.

"I want to advise the owners of these channels, who broadcast calls for such indecency and impudence ... and I warn them of the consequences," he said.

"What does the owner of these networks think, when he provides seduction, obscenity and vulgarity?" he said.

"Those calling for corrupt beliefs, certainly it's permissible to kill them," he said. "Those calling for sedition, those who are able to prevent it but don't, it is permissible to kill them."

Among the most viewed Arabic satellite networks is Rotana, which airs movies and music videos. It is owned by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a billionaire businessman and member of the royal family whom Forbes ranks as the world's 13th richest person.

Al-Lihedan sparked controversy in the past by issuing a decree that Saudis can join jihadists to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.

[HisDaughter]

Islam, Secularism and the Gospel 

christianpost

While Britons may think of America as its juvenile and impetuous offspring, Great Britain has surely become our senile grandmother. Through repeated acts of self-condemnation and political correctness, the British are systematically capitulating to all things Islamic. In essence, our British forbearers are committing cultural suicide.

In what may appear to be deferential considerations to their growing Muslim population, British authorities are slowly conforming to the demands of an increasingly outspoken and violent minority. Already in Britain, Muslim men with multiple wives have been given the go-ahead to claim extra welfare benefits following a year-long government review. Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by British authorities means that polygamous marriages can now be recognized formally (not to mentioned subsidized) by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal. And yes, polygamy remains a norm in the Muslim world.

In other another act of mindless irony, the Research, Information and Communication Unit, a division of the British Home Office, established for the purpose of countering al-Qaeda’s influence in the UK, is actually instructing civil servants not to use terms such as “Islamist extremism” or “jihadi fundamentalist.” Instead, they are to use phrases such as “violent extremism” or “criminal murderers” or “thugs” to avoid any implication that there is connection between Islam and terrorism.

Closer to home, the US government also issued guidelines earlier this year for the Department of Homeland Security suggesting such terms as “jihad” and “Islamic terrorism” not be used.

So ridiculous have British concessions to Muslim demands become that Fortis Bank “stopped giving piggy banks to children for fear of offending Muslims,” according to The Times of London. (Pigs are an offensive, unclean animal to Muslims.) There are also accounts of Muslim nurses refusing to comply with hygiene procedures on the grounds that scrubbing requires them to bare their arms.

And this past week, Fox News reported that “Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.” According to news reports, “The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.” Adding that “rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system…” In an astonishing statement, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, said there was no reason why sharia law, derived from several sources including the Qur´an, could not be used for contractual agreements and marital disputes. The first question that comes to mind: How does British society plan to mitigate between the Western and Muslim views relative to the rights of women?

The first public signs of appeasement emerged in the wake of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (death edict) against British author Salman Rushdie in 1989. Thousands of British Muslims marched in the streets calling for Rushdie to be killed while the British authorities thought it best to “play it cool,” according to Mark Steyn, author of America Alone. Of the more than 100 demonstrators arrested for violent assaults on the police that day, all were released without charges. British non-Muslims held a (much smaller) counter-demonstration shortly thereafter to uphold the right to free speech—meaning the free speech of Salman Rushdie—only to be attacked and beaten by Muslims. Playing it cool has only emboldened Muslim radicals and the calls for blood and violence increase. Today there are sections of London in which no non-Muslim dare venture for fear of being killed.

And the same is occurring across the rest of Europe. Recall the French riots in 2005 in which thousands of young Muslims, armed with clubs and sticks and shouting, “Allah Akbar!” stormed the streets. Windows were smashed; stores looted and cars were torched. Europeans trapped by the mob were viciously attacked, and some killed. The trouble in France finally ended only when various levels of French authorities quietly accepted that there were de facto no-go areas within the country, mini-Islamistans run by the dominant local Muslim majority. Shortly after, riots in Denmark featured Muslims taunting authorities, saying, “This territory belongs to Islam; you don’t belong here.” In a growing number of Western European nations there are now territories that have been effectively occupied by Islamic fundamentalists determined to subdue their host countries.

Iman Abdelali Hamdoune revealed the goal of Islam when he urged the Muslim faithful:

Do not permit your children to follow the example of the French. They should comport themselves in a totally different manner than the French. Here in France we have to impose ourselves, and impose Islam.

Recently, the United Nations General Assembly began considering a resolution sponsored by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) under the altruistic title of “Combating Defamation of Religion.” Supporters claim its goal is to stamp out “incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular.” Of course, Muslims are at liberty to incite hatred and violence against other religions and infidels.

Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan federal body, says it’s clear that the OIC countries are attempting to “mainstream” prohibitions on any speech that could be considered critical of Islam. So when Muslims take to the streets with signs reading BEHEAD THOSE WHO INSULT ISLAM, it would be insensitive of us to suggest that perhaps Islam is a factor in breeding violence. Hmm?

Next week I will explore the philosophical preconditions that have rendered Europe so impotent in its response to radical Islam, demonstrating that these same conditions are emerging within our own society. In short, there are three worldviews today that are contending to “narrate the world” (in the words of theologian Robert Webber)—Christianity, secular humanism, and Islam.

I will argue that the American church, in its present state, will not be able to counter the Islamic effort to narrate the world until it is liberated from its own cultural captivity. American evangelicalism, with its emphasis on personal experience and therapy, has produced a narcissistic faith that centers on self rather than Christ and the redemptive mission of God—and this has rendered the Christian story of the world shallow and irrelevant.

[Soldier4Christ]

In response to sharia law being allowed in Britain there is a group that is taking to the streets in protest. This new group is called "March for England." Is it too little too late? Probably so. This group does mean business and it is having a very large increase in membership at an astounding rate. It looks like things are going to be getting very hot in Britain now.

[bronzesnake]

In response to sharia law being allowed in Britain there is a group that is taking to the streets in protest. This new group is called "March for England." Is it too little too late? Probably so. This group does mean business and it is having a very large increase in membership at an astounding rate. It looks like things are going to be getting very hot in Britain now.

I saw a politician from Sweden on TV the other day, and he was really angry at how his country has allowed so many muslims in. This despite the fact that whenever you get a large population of muslims anywhere violence soon follows. I'm not apologising for that remark because it is true.
Sweden had a "jihad" killing of one of their people, I believe he was a writer or a film maker, can't recall offhand, but he obviously had to be killed because he insulted Muhammad!
Islam is a violent religion, that's fact.

I'm not saying every muslim is a mad jihadie, but there is a very large sector of that faith which is causing the great majority of war and violence on the planet. There are huge portions in England that British will not dare enter! Their own country!

If our politicians don't wake up soon the same will happen here in America/North America. We must quit endangering our way of life with stupid political correctness. If you are an immigrant, from any country, but we know who the trouble makers are, and you commit violence or propagate violence against Americans, you should automatically be sent packing. If you've actually committed murder here, then execution should be the rule of thumb. Hey, they stone or behead people for minor offenses, so they surely will agree that when they get caught killing, or planning to kill innocent people in the name of their god, execution will be in order.

John

[Soldier4Christ]

It's great to see you, John. You've been missed.

Actually they expect to be rewarded for such behavior not executed and many of those that are not "mad jihadie" still attempt to work their religion into being in control over everyone.

[HisDaughter]

I saw a politician from Sweden on TV the other day, and he was really angry at how his country has allowed so many muslims in. This despite the fact that whenever you get a large population of muslims anywhere violence soon follows. I'm not apologising for that remark because it is true.
Sweden had a "jihad" killing of one of their people, I believe he was a writer or a film maker, can't recall offhand, but he obviously had to be killed because he insulted Muhammad!
Islam is a violent religion, that's fact.

I'm not saying every muslim is a mad jihadie, but there is a very large sector of that faith which is causing the great majority of war and violence on the planet. There are huge portions in England that British will not dare enter! Their own country!

If our politicians don't wake up soon the same will happen here in America/North America. We must quit endangering our way of life with stupid political correctness. If you are an immigrant, from any country, but we know who the trouble makers are, and you commit violence or propagate violence against Americans, you should automatically be sent packing. If you've actually committed murder here, then execution should be the rule of thumb. Hey, they stone or behead people for minor offenses, so they surely will agree that when they get caught killing, or planning to kill innocent people in the name of their god, execution will be in order.

John

Boy, do I agree with you!!

[nChrist]

Hello Bronzesnake,

Brother John, it's great to hear from you. I also agree with you 100%. Things are changing rapidly around the world now. Things are also insane, so it's hard to determine why so much is tolerated without taking any common sense actions. "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS" is just part of the INSANITY. As we both know, EVIL is the biggest problem, and that is coming out in the open everywhere. Folks like to talk about so-called GLOBAL problems, and this is a REAL GLOBAL problem increasing by the day.

If these are the END DAYS of this AGE OF GRACE, there won't be any fixes and things will simply get worse. As Christians, we should know that the time of the TRIBULATION PERIOD is growing nearer. Most of the world doesn't believe in GOD or the HOLY BIBLE, so the world won't believe in the TRIBULATION PERIOD either. Many things will be an extremely RUDE AWAKENING.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Favorite Bible Quotes 141 - Ezekiel 7:25-27 Destruction cometh; and
they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come
upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a
vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and
counsel from the ancients. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince
shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the
land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and
according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that
I am the LORD.

[bronzesnake]

ello my friends.
I've missed yuo all as well, thank you.
My health is very tenuous at present so if I'm not around it's because I'm on my back.

yes pastor Roger, I know these people actually believe in a god who requires them to murder and maime in order to get their reward!

The true God actually alloed Himself to be murdered in order to save us...diametrically opposite to each other!

the true God is coming soon, and will wipe out all satan's minions and powder monkeys.

Hi Tom, it's great to hear from you as well brother. I really miss this place and all my friends here.
I really thought I was going to buy the farm this time because my pancreas was seemingly sputtering out it's final operational duties.
The surgeon got in there and had a heck of a time umplugging the pancreatic duct, but he finally managed to clear it out.
it was packed up solid and if I had have just stayed home and attempted to ride it out, I may not be here right now.

Turns out it paid off listening to my wife and allowing her to call an ambulance at fourish in the morning.
I've been home for three weeks now from my month long stay and due to the fishing around that was done during the proceedure to unblock me, I am still very sore indeed.
I had the stint removed and am told it looks very good at present.

Yes I agree Tom...things are rapidly progressing these days, and the Rapture can happen at any moment.
satan's power is increasing as the world turns more and more to the way it was in the days of Noah just prior to the great flood.

God bless you all my friends, and I pray I am well enough to at least come here once a wekk, if not just to say hello.

John

John

[nChrist]

Hello Brother John,

You are in my prayers every day. However, I didn't know about your recent flare-up, so I will be praying for you more specifically. I do think we will all be having a GLORIOUS HOME-COMING soon, and I'm READY! LORD - Please come quickly!

I know many Christians who are having hard times in more than one way, but nothing changes the fact that we belong to CHRIST. GOD is holding us securely in HIS HANDS. No power in the universe can pluck us out of HIS MIGHTY HANDS. We need to continually remember that the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD lives in our hearts and has ALREADY SEALED US as a POSSESSION OF CHRIST! Regardless of what comes in the rest of this short life, what can we say but THANK YOU LORD!

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NASB
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O  DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

[HisDaughter]

U.K. Court Recognizes Threat to Christian Converts From Islam

christianpost.com

A U.K. immigration court of appeals has for the first time recognized the life threatening circumstances of Muslim converts to Christianity by granting asylum to a Syrian evangelical Christian couple.

In an unprecedented victory, the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) helped a young couple (whose identity is being withheld for security reasons) gain refugee status in the United Kingdom.

The court recognized that the couple would face real physical threats, including death, if they return to Syria, the country of origin of the husband. The appeal was granted on both asylum and human rights grounds.

“This is a significant and groundbreaking decision that clearly puts the focus on the fact that many converts to Christianity from Islam face real danger including the ultimate penalty of death,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of both the ECLJ and its U.S.-based affiliate the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), in a statement.

He added, “This important decision will not go unnoticed in the international arena and we’re delighted that it provides protection for Christian converts who are at great risk because of their faith and their desire to share it.”

The couple had converted to evangelical Christianity a few years ago – the husband in 2003 and the wife in 2005 – and has thereafter openly witness their Christian faith to Muslims via internet chat rooms.

After their conversion, which is considered apostasy under Sharia law and punishable by death, the couple began receiving death threats, including a video of a beheading.

Also, the husband’s family told him if he refused to return to Islam then they would “wash their shame,” or put him to death.

“This is truly a landmark day in the United Kingdom as a nation awakens to the ever-growing threat of radical Islam and the plight of Christians in the Middle East,” said Roger Kiska, Legal Counsel of the ECLJ who represented the couple at the U.K. appeals court. “I couldn’t be happier with the decision and the role that ECLJ played in the case.”

The ECLJ and ACLJ have worked closely together on the case. The ACLJ helped gather the signatures of six members of the U.S. Congress in a letter to the U.K. appeals court in August.

Members of Congress had urged the appeals court to protect the couple and acknowledge that they “would face severe religious persecution as a result of their conversion from Islam to Christianity.”

American lawmakers also recognized that the couple faced a “credible threat” and that their lives were in danger.

[Soldier4Christ]

Sharia courts set to bring Muslim law to bear in Scottish cities

SECRET talks are under way to bring Islamic sharia law courts to Scotland, The Scotsman has learned.
Qamar Bhatti, director of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), which runs the courts, admitted discussions were taking place with lawyers and Muslim community groups in Scotland.

The group is believed to be aiming to set up courts in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In September it emerged that five sharia courts, ruling on civil cases from divorce to domestic violence and financial disputes, had been operating for more than a year in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and at MAT headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

The courts have legal powers, with their decisions enforceable through the county courts or high courts.

However, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a "dual legal system".

Women's domestic violence groups have also voiced fears, saying traditional sharia law arbitration is "dangerous and inappropriate" in cases of abuse.

Last night Bill Aitken, the Scottish Tory justice spokesman, said: "Informal private arrangements between individual members of the Muslim community are one thing, but in criminal matters Scottish courts must have total jurisdiction. "Matters of divorce and domestic violence require to be determined by conventional courts. We cannot have private arrangements when human rights are an issue."

The move to establish sharia courts has sharply divided opinion among Scotland's Muslims.

Some defend the right of the Muslim community to rule on its own affairs. But others say MAT has not consulted them and there is no demand for sharia courts.

Aamer Anwar, a Glasgow-based civil rights lawyer, said: "Those using sharia law are fully entitled to religious freedom as long as it doesn't conflict with criminal law. Because it happens to be Islamic , people jump to the conclusion it is barbaric.

"It is down to the community to decide for itself."

Commenting on criticisms over domestic violence, he said: "The woman has full entitlement to go before any court or to the police. With sharia law, when domestic violence is raised it always runs into a fanfare of hysteria."

Noman Tahir, of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, said there was no groundswell of support for sharia courts in Scotland.

"Currently, Scottish Muslims resolve civil matters through the courts or voluntary third-party arbitration with Islamic scholars and imams," he said. "This has worked well for many years and we are not aware of any unhappiness with these arrangements or calls for change."

A spokeswoman for Shakti Women's Aid, which supports black minority ethnic women, said it was not in favour of the courts in Scotland.

"Cases of domestic abuse and divorce should be heard within the Scottish judicial system," she said. "We fear that many female victims of domestic abuse may be pressurised by their families and partners to accept the rulings of the sharia court as final and prevent them from seeking legal assistance from the Scottish court system, which might force them to continue living within abusive relationships."

John Scott, a human rights lawyer, said: "There is a place for sharia law, but we need to be careful those aspects unfavourable to women are not allowed to dominate.

"I have less concern about fears over a dual legal system than aspects which are inconsistent in practice with equality issues. But such courts cannot be set up unsupervised and they would need to be monitored."

In February the Archbishop of Canterbury caused a furore when he commented that it "seems unavoidable" that parts of Islamic sharia law would be adopted in the UK if social cohesion was to be maintained.

Panels of scholars with power to settle disputes

What is sharia?

Sharia law is Islam's legal system, derived from the Koran and from fatwas – the rulings of Islamic scholars. It covers every aspect of a Muslim's life and day-to-day conduct.

What do sharia courts deal with?

A range of issues including marriage, divorce, family and financial disputes.

Where and when do they meet?

They have been set up in mosques, Islamic centres and converted premises such as shops. Most meet weekly. Advice on some issues can also be obtained online.

How are decisions made?

Around three to six scholars and imams collectively make decisions.

Islamic jurists issue guidance and rulings. Guidance which is considered a formal legal ruling is called a fatwa.

How much does it cost a complainant?

Costs range from £150-£250

Is there a right of appeal?

Yes – you can appeal to another sharia court or apply for a special hearing.

Why do some women have concerns about these courts?

Some Muslim women say they are concerned about the interpretation of disputes because of the patriarchal nature of their culture.

Have sharia courts been established in other western countries?

Attempts to set up sharia courts in Canada in 2005 were abandoned after protests.

[nChrist]

Hello Pastor Roger,

Brother, thanks for the information and articles on sharia courts. It would appear that Muslim women should have no expectation of being treated fairly in a sharia court. Generally, they face extreme discrimination throughout their entire culture, and I would do more than guess that discrimination against women would be a NATURAL BUILT-IN for sharia courts.

Regardless, there should be NO BASIS for allowing sharia courts in non-islamic nations. The Constitutional and Civil rights of ALL should be the same in a civilized country. That should obviously include women. As an individual, my opinion would be very simple:  if they want sharia courts, let them go home or go to an islamic country where sharia courts are the norm. Under our Laws and Constitution, one can NOT sign away Civil and Constitutional Rights.

[HisDaughter]

Replace capitalism with Islamic financial system:


Muslims should take advantage of the global financial crisis to build an economic system compatible with Islamic principles, influential Sunni cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi said this week.

"The collapse of the capitalist system based on usury and paper and not on goods traded on the market is proof that it is in crisis and shows that Islamic economic philosophy is holding up," said the Egyptian-born, Qatar-based cleric.

"The Western system has collapsed and we have a complete economic philosophy as well as spiritual strength," he said at Sunday's opening of a conference on Jerusalem.

"All riches are ours... the Islamic nation has all or nearly all the oil and we have an economic philosophy that no one else has," Qaradawi said.

He urged Muslims to "profit from the crisis to bring about the triumph of the (Islamic) nation, which holds the spiritual and material resources for victory."

The sixth conference on Jerusalem is being attended by around 300 people representing political parties as well as Muslim and Christian NGOs, from various countries.

It is staged by Al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Institution, which is dedicated to the conservation of the holy city and its sacred places.

Participants include Khaled Meshaal, exiled head of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei.

The three-day conference will look at ways of protecting Jerusalem and its holy sites, which participants believe are threatened by Israel.

[HisDaughter]

Islam's Legal Jihad

islamist-watch.org

Have you seen the little old lady who passes out Jehovah's Witness literature in your neighborhood? Some people stop and show interest. Others roll their eyes, and keep walking. But, would you ever expect anyone to threaten her? Call her a racist, and try to get her arrested?

Islamists would. And that is exactly what happened to two English Christian ministers who had the nerve to proselytize on a street corner in a predominantly Muslim immigrant area in the UK in 2007.

Such freedom of speech violations won't be an anomaly if the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has a permanent delegation to the United Nations, succeeds in passing a UN resolution against "Defamation of Religion" Noboby in a western country will be able to discuss the socio-political consequences of Muslim immigration, for fear of being labeled "Islamophobic" and slapped with a fine, or even jail time.

Islamists are increasingly using lawful Islamism, or non-violent and legal strategies to spread Sharia, (Islamic law) in the West, encroaching on non-Muslim life everyday. Other examples include:

- Sharia Finance;
- Islam in public schools;
- Violations of basic hygiene policy by Muslim medical staff;
- Workplace violations in the name of religious freedom;
- Censorship of literature.

Under the banner of "religious freedom," Islamists attack the very fabric of democracy in favor of Islam in the public sphere. The above examples are not examples of pluralism, but a violation of the separation of church and state doctrine meant to keep people of all faiths, or no faith, equal under the law. Liberals have forgotten that secularism is not a free-for-all, but has boundaries in order to remain meaningful.

Freedom of speech has already been attacked repeatedly. Islamists tried to censor criticism of Islamist terrorism when the Muhammad cartoons were published in Jyllens-Posten in 2005. Strangely enough, the "cartoon intifada" arose 5 months after their original printing, but only weeks before the UNHCR was due to consider the OIC's resolution on "Combating Defamation of Religion."

Such a coincidence caused the National Secular Society to state in its Memorandum (Section E, point 2) to the UK Parliament that,

the Danish cartoon crisis was manufactured… to exploit sensitivities around racial discrimination and to promote (or even exaggerate) the notion of "Islamophobia" in order to restrict possibilities for open discussion or criticism of Islam….measures calling for legislation banning "defamation of religion" - …. aims to remove religion, especially Islam, from public scrutiny and public debate.

If any religion is to be integrated into the daily social, economic and political life of a nation, it must open the door for evaluation of its goals and application. Otherwise, OIC nations will be able to govern unilaterally without respect to international law. Consider the following precedent.

Saudi Arabia ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2000, with reservations, stating, "In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the Kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention."

Thus, Saudi Arabia confirms that it will only offer lip service to human rights by signing documents like the CEDAW charter. It will not actually improve the status of women, because it is a theocracy, and every move a woman makes is governed by Islamic law. CEDAW can do nothing for them. Moreover, if the Defamation of Religion resolution is passed, all human rights activists will feel even greater censorship, since protests from abroad will be construed as racism.

Consider the "Qatif girl" case. A Saudi girl was gang-raped in 2005 and blamed for it, since she was in the presence of unrelated men when it happened. Her attorney lost his license for challenging the Saudi courts. Only after generating global media pressure did the situation change in her favor. The king pardoned her and the attorney got his license reinstated. In a post- Defamation of Religion world, the attorney would have been trapped, unable to help the girl and disbarred if he dared to challenge Saudi Islamic law.

Lastly, the OIC resolution must fail because it is patently hypocritical. While professing great sensitivity toward religion, OIC members ironically regularly fail to show any respect for other faiths:

- Saudi Arabia continues to use bigoted textbooks, and export them to American Islamic schools despite promises to change.

- Iran sponsored a Holocaust cartoon contest in retaliation for the Danish cartoons of Muhammad in 2005. Yet, Jews had nothing to do with the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

- Pakistan's blasphemy laws attack Christians as a pretext for personal disputes.

The Defamation of Religion resolution is a free pass for Islamists to continue denigrating other religions and minorities through lawful Islamism. It ties the hands of any politician that questions the spread of Islamism in the West, and prevents critical evaluation of the treatment of women and minorities in Muslim societies.

Liberal and conservative citizens of the West must work together to prevent this resolution from passing in the UN.